Tuesday, February 9, 2021

Matthew S. Harmon on λειτουργός ("Minister") in Romans 15:16

 

His boldness in writing to the Romans is grounded in the grace that God has given him (Rom. 15:14-5), which he then further explains in verse 16 as ‘to be a servant [leitourgos] of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, serving as a priest [hierourgeō] of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit’ (AT). Though rendered ‘minister’ in most English translations the noun leitourgos in this context refers to someone who serves as a priest (Although this noun can be used in a general sense to refer to an assistant or servant [see BDAG s.v. leitourgos], it can also have the specific sense of one who serves as a priest [see .g., Heb. 8:2, where it refers to Christ as our high priest]. This noun and its cognates are used frequently in the LXX with reference to priestly service ‘because it was public, fixed, and regulated by law, and the welfare of the people of God depended on it”). The priestly nature of this service is confirmed by Paul’s use of the verb hierourgeō (serving as a priest), which always refers to acting ‘in some cultic or sacred capacity’ (BDAG s.v. hierourgeō). As a priestly servant, Paul ministers the gospel to the Gentiles. The purpose of this priestly ministry can be understood in two different ways. Paul may be saying that he offers the Gentiles to the Lord as a sacrifice that is pleading because they are set apart by the Holy Spirit. Alternatively, Paul could be saying that through his priestly service the Gentiles offer themselves to the Lord as those set apart by the Holy Spirit. What tips the scales in favour of the first view is the likelihood that Paul has Isaiah 66:18-20 in view here. That text envisions those who have been redeemed by Yahweh going out to the nations to proclaim the glory of the Lord, and those who respond to this message described as an offering to Yahweh. (Matthew S. Harmon, The Servant of the Lord and His Servant People: Tracing a biblical theme through the canon [New Studies in Biblical Theology; London: Apollos, 2020], 185-86)

 

Further Reading


After the Order of the Son of God: The Biblical and Historical Evidence for Latter-day Saint Theology of the Priesthood (2018)